Calhoun nabs first baby races

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Nobody was better prepared for the opening of Keeneland than Bret Calhoun – unless it was True Saint, whom Calhoun saddled to win the first race of the 16-day spring meet under cloudy skies Friday.

“He came to me the first of December, broke and already turned out,” Calhoun said after True Saint, ridden by Corey Lanerie, won the 4 1/2-furlong race for 2-year-olds by 1 1/4 lengths. “We’ve had him at the Evangeline training center ever since. We’ve been looking forward to coming back to Kentucky, and this was a nice way to get us started on the spring.”

True Saint, a Texas-bred colt bred and owned by Tom Durant, returned $6.80 as second choice after finishing in 52.02 seconds over a fast track. The son of Yes It’s True had to check near the quarter pole when the leader and odds-on favorite On the way tone vr land “made the turn better than I thought he was going to,” said Lanerie, who was trying to sneak up the rail.

“It turned out okay, though,” he said.

Fans could hardly be blamed for backing down On the way tone vr land to 4-5 favoritism. Since 2007, his trainer, Wesley Ward, had won a remarkable 35 of these baby races at Keeneland spring meets. Ward had entered two horses in each of the two 2-year-old races here Friday, but scratched one in each, and he also has two entered in each 2-year-old race Sunday (races 1 and 3).

“We’ll keep trying,” said Ward.

Ward quickly made amends by sending out Kirby’s Penny ($3.60), a 5-year-old mare, to win the second race as a heavy favorite under Jose Ortiz. And then it was Calhoun’s turn to foil Ward and his many backers again, as Shanghaied Roo ($9.20), another Durant homebred, won the other race for 2-year-olds (race 3) under Gabriel Saez while Ward’s 4-5 favorite No Bang No Boom faded to finish third.

A 10-race card opened amid unseasonable chill, with some customers donning overcoats and other winter attire. A wintry mix of rain and snow was forecast overnight into Saturday, when the richest card of the meet was scheduled.

The Grade 3 Transylvania was to be run later Friday as the ninth-race feature over a turf course rated yielding.

Grade 1’s shaping up strong

The last two Grade 1 races of the meet will be run over the turf here next week, and each is shaping up worthy of its ranking.

The $300,000 Maker’s 46 Mile, to be run Friday, is expected to get a sizable field that will include World Approval, Heart to Heart, Hogy, and possibly Om.

The $350,000 Jenny Wiley, to be run Saturday at 1 1/16 miles, might be even deeper, with a prospective lineup to include Dona Bruja, Cambodia, La Coronel, Proctor’s Ledge, and the Chad Brown trio of Fourstar Crook, Off Limits, and Sistercharlie.

Dona Bruja, a sharp winner of the Grade 2 Endeavour at Tampa Bay Downs in February, will breeze on the main track here Sunday or Monday, conditions permitting, said trainer Ignacio Correas. “I’ll take her over to the [Polytrack] training track if the main track is off,” said Correas.

Saturday also could feature the return of Lady Aurelia in the co-featured Giant’s Causeway at 5 1/2 furlongs on the turf.

Stakes-caliber allowance on tap

By itself, the sixth race here Sunday would serve as an alluring feature, but it’s overshadowed by the Grade 2 Appalachian and Grade 3 Beaumont. Nonetheless, the $82,000 turf allowance with wideopen conditions could be a key race toward more high-profile events, given the oversubscribed field is composed almost entirely of stakes winners, and many of those graded winners.

Offering Plan, a New Yorkbred trained by Chad Brown, could come a slight favorite in the 1 1/16-mile race, which also drew such accomplished runners as Are You Kidding Me, Blacktype, Inspector Lynley, Shakhimat, and the Indian champion Serjeant At Arms.

One-mile dirt races ahead

The first one-mile dirt race of the spring meet – assuming the Appalachian isn’t forced off the turf Sunday and run at a mile on the main track – is in the condition book for next Friday (April 13). It’s a secondlevel allowance for fillies and mares with a $78,000 purse, and it’ll be the first of a handful of such races through the end of the meet, April 27.

Despite the 1 1/16-mile circumference of its main track, which makes for a short run into the first turn (even with a 70-yard run-up), Keeneland first began running one-mile dirt races at the 2015 fall meet, ahead of the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile.

◗ Keeneland issued a release this week saying its antenna system has been upgraded by Verizon, which should minimize any problems with smartphone reception.

◗ April 23 will be the first day at Churchill Downs for Kentucky Derby and Oaks horses to have their separate training period. A new time has been established – from 7:30 to 7:45 a.m. Eastern (previously 8:30-8:45) – as Churchill now will have two harrow breaks each morning instead of one.

◗ Signage atop the grandstand and over the infield winner’s pagoda at Churchill was changed Friday from 2017 to 2018 to reflect the upcoming runnings of the Derby and Oaks.